This study analyzed current uses of emerging Web 2.0 technologies in higher education with the intent to better understand which tools teachers are using in the classroom. A total of 189 faculty in higher education from three western US universities were invited to participate, with 54 completing the survey. The survey included open-ended questions as well to offer an alternative analysis approach. In this study, the respondents claimed that the intrinsic factors of a lack of time and training were the main barriers to use, and reported positive views of Web 2.0 use in class, with 75% saying that these tools would benefit students and 83% saying they would benefit teacher-student interactions. In contrast to these results only 44% of the respondents used at least 4 of the 13 listed Web 2.0 tools with students. The reported uses did not match with the reported benefits, and this would support the results that extrinsic factors (time, training, support), instead of intrinsic factors (beliefs, motivation, confidence) are the main barriers to faculty in this study using more Web 2.0 in education. The top five Web 2.0 tools used, in order of preference, follow: (a) video sharing with tools like YouTube; (b) instant messaging; (c) blogs; (d) social communities, such as Facebook; and (e) podcasts or video casts. This data was originally submitted to the Abraham S. Fischler School of Education in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education.

This report presents findings from a two-year investigation of the ways in which Web 2.0 tools and social networking technologies are being used to support teaching and learning in classrooms across the United States. With funding from Intel®, the Education Development Center's Center for Children and Technology (EDC/CCT) interviewed or visited over 30 educators in 22 different schools throughout the country as they employed these tools in their classrooms in innovative ways. We also spoke with and observed a number of students in these schools. Currently, there is much discussion and excitement about Web 2.0 in education, but we still know very little about how these tools actually work in the classroom. Therefore, the goal of this research was simply to interview and observe educators and students who are experimenting with these tools in the classroom to see what uses are emerging and to explore the learning affordances of blogs, wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools.

Web 2.0 describes World Wide Web sites that emphasize user-generated content, usability, and interoperability. The term was popularized by Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty at the O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 Conference in late 2004, though it was first coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999.[1][2][3][4] Although Web 2.0 suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specification, but rather to cumulative changes in the way Web pages are made and used. A Web 2.0 site may allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to Web sites where people are limited to the passive viewing of content. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, folksonomies, video sharing sites, hosted services, Web applications, and mashups.[5] Whether Web 2.0 is substantively different from prior Web technologies has been challenged by World Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who describes the term as jargon.[6] His original vision of the Web was "a collaborative medium, a place where we [could] all meet and read and write".[7][8] On the other hand, the term Semantic Web (sometimes referred to as Web 3.0)[citation needed] was coined by Tim Berners-Lee for a web of data that can be processed by machines.[9]

Web 2.0 Tools for Educators Social media provides a variety of tools, commonly referred to as Web 2.0, that educators can use to engage students and enhance essential skills (communication, collaboration, creativity, media literacy, technological proficiency, global awareness. Other tools can be leveraged to become more efficient and effective at what we do in education.

What is Web 2.0? A simple definition of Web 2.0 is the “Read/Write Web.” Originally, the Internet was a place to locate information - mainly a "Read Only Web." As the Internet slowly changed, web sites were developed that let people "write," collaborate, and share information, such as Wikipedia and Facebook.

Exploring the Tools (General) 23 Learning 2.0 Things The original Learning 2.0 Program, created for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (North Carolina). This site was created to support PLCMC's Learning 2.0 Program; a discovery learning program designed to encourage staff to explore new technologies and reward them for doing 23 Things. The site includes information on replicating the learning program for your library. 100 Free Library 2.0 Webinars and Tutorials Resources for Librarians about Online Social Networking from ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA, a division of ALA) Online Social Networking Tools: An introduction(PDF) Presentation at the New Mexico Library Association Meeting in Farmington, New Mexico, April 21, 2006. Library Technology Reports Provides library professionals with insightful elucidation, covering in-depth the technology and technological issues the library field grapples with on a daily basis in the information age. Some abstracts available online. Webtools4U2Use, "a place for K-12 school library media specialists to learn a little more about web tools that can be used to improve and enhance school library media programs and services, to see examples of how they can be used, and to share success stories and creative ideas about how to use and integrate them," created for school library media specialists by Dr. Donna Baumbach and Dr. Judy Lee, University of Central Florida. Web 2.0 & Libraries page at the YALSA Wiki

Teacher educators are constantly revisiting and revising their teacher education programs. Historically, research, educational policy, and accreditation requirements have been the impetus for renewal in teacher education. For the past 20 years, technology innovation has played an increasingly significant role in rethinking teacher education. This paper discusses recent changes in a social studies teacher education program and the role Web 2.0 tools played in helping to rethink pedagogy.

Online tools and resources have made it easier for teachers to instruct students, and for students to collaborate with those teachers and with other students and parents. These “Web 2.0″ teaching tools aren’t magical, but they may seem to defy definition at times since they save time, help you to stay organized, and often take up little space on a computer. Some of these applications are Web-based, which means that they can be accessed from any computer.